Israelis Praise Nikki Haley for Standing by Israel

JERUSALEM, Israel – Israelis were as shocked as Americans at the seemingly sudden resignation of US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. She's one of the best friends Israel has had in a long time.

Israelis are calling her a superstar. Nikki Haley had to be one of the most popular US officials ever here in Israel. She stood up for the Jewish state at the United Nations in a way that Israel hadn't seen for a long time, if ever.

On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Haley she had made the UN "smell better."

"The hall still permeates with the stench of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic resolutions, which are the same. And I want to thank you for clearing the air," he said.

Following the US veto of a UN vote on the status of Jerusalem last year during Hanukah, Netanyahu likened Haley to the Maccabees who overthrew the Syrian Greek rulers in Israel after they defiled the Temple.

"Thank you, Ambassador Haley. On Hanukkah, you spoke like a Maccabi. You lit a candle of truth. You dispel the darkness. One defeated the many. Truth defeated lies," Netanyahu told her.

Following the announcement that Haley would wrap up her two-year tenure at the United Nations, Netanyahu tweeted,

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
"I would like to thank Ambassador @nikkihaley, who led the uncompromising struggle against hypocrisy at the UN, and on behalf of the truth and justice of our country. Best of luck!" pic.twitter.com/Lr6IvkM5U9

Iranian officials, unsurprisingly, were glad to see her go, with Alireza Miryousefi, the head of Iran's press office at the UN tweeting,

.@nikkihaley," New Sheriff in town" is no longer. We do not know who she was or what she was about, but she was a serious problem at the UN with her uninformed statements & her causing the isolation of U.S. You need to know: there is no new sheriff in town.https://t.co/9jazZbS4BT

"Winston Churchill once said, 'You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.' Thank you @nikkihaley for always fiercely standing up for freedom, democracy & human rights. You were a rare beacon of light, hope & justice at the UN!"

Finally, the popular Israeli cartoonist, Yaakov Kirschen, asked the question many are pondering: "Who can fill Nikki Haley's shoes?"